Tally Tours is an essential part of our marketing at Mar-Lu Properties. Myles really goes the extra mile making all of my tours and photographs look fantastic. If the grass is brown, he turns it green. If the sky is overcast, he makes it bright and sunny. Every listing deserves this much attention!
How do I prepare for my photo shoot?
Preparing your home for a Virtual Tour
Step 1: Un-clutter
This is the first and most important part of the process. It's also the hardest. All those family pictures of babies, weddings, and high school dances on your fridge are nice to show friends and family, but these types of things often look like clutter to home buyers. Un-cluttering your home will make it appear cleaner, more inviting & open. Most importantly, this will open up the buyers imagination to what they can do with the space. This flow of ideas for the buyers will keep your home on their mind. You help create this “buyers spark” with a minimal but functional use of space. However, you don't want it to look awkwardly bare.
Get out boxes and trash bags. Pack away excess nick naks, anything that doesn't fit neatly on shelves, counters, etc... Consider a garage sale or giving items to charity. You don't need to leave shelves bare, but you do need to organize what's on them. A picture frame, neutral books (meaning books that won’t offend anyone), nice artwork, maybe some plants… these types of things should do the trick. Remember, If your are not using it, consider packing it away.
Also, it's important to mention that the less clutter the camera sees, the higher quality and sharp the images will be once they are online. Clutter is the #1 reason why some tours have higher quality images than others.
Step 2: Fix-up
You don't want buyers thinking about fixing and replacing things the first time they step into your home. Replace all light bulbs and broken or missing fixtures such as outlet covers. Replace or clean your dirty old shower curtains. Inspect every room in your home. Make a list and replace or fix anything that needs it. If your on a budget, make a budget and fix what you can.
Step 3: Vacuum, Sweep, Dust, Mop & Clean
A little dust usually doesn't show up in a tour. However, it helps tremendously for showing your home, and having nice shiny surfaces makes your photos crisp and sharp. If you can, you should hire a professional cleaner prior to the photo shoot, or set aside part of the day to do a thorough cleaning yourself.
If you live in the home while you are selling, try your hardest to keep it as clean as you can throughout the selling processes. Buying a home is a huge investment and a big life decision. If a buyer sees two identical homes and one is particularly clean… that person is much more likely to buy the one that is obviously more cared for by the current owners.
Step 4: Outside
Don't forget about the outside! A freshly mowed lawn, trimmed hedges, and removing branches and twigs makes your home inviting to buyers. This is also very good for photos. Maybe even consider a fresh coat of paint outside. This can raise the value of your home much more than the cost of materials or even professional labor.